“Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.” – WH Auden If they’d the power of speech, an observation my arid front and back lawns may’ve hurled in my direction yesterday afternoon. Parched from around a month bereft of precipitation, the grass blades looked a pretty sorry bunch as […]
Yesterday evening, as shadows lengthened while solar rays ventured ever westward, I posed sedentary at casa Strachan’s patio table To counter the consequential diminishing temperatures I ignited a chiminea wood fire. A pyre which burned fervently a foot, or so, from my uncovered legs, providing a comforting warmth to previously […]
There are numerous instances on social media (SM) where individuals have posted their belief that in contemporary times smart phones are guilty of ‘Big Brother’ like surveillance. This paranoia fed by logging onto the likes of Facebook or Instagram timelines to witness advertisements for random products of which the ‘victim’ […]
I’ve just heard an ice cream van in an adjacent street, which bore the James Bond theme as its chime. Deeming this a quirky alternative from the oft heard melodic chimes, such as ‘Greensleeves’ or ‘Whistle While You Work’, this soundscape was the catalyst to a wry grin adorning my […]
With a soundscape of distant radio music and children’s brio while frolicking in nearby gardens, GJ Strachan perches garden patio table in situ. His self-appointed mission the scribbling of a second Spring Bank Holiday Monday chronicle. Sheltering from early afternoon solar rays under a hefty parasol, I’m currently afflicted by […]
On this day in mid-1960’s my younger brother Ian made his inaugural appearance into the world. Born at our Leeds home, our kid arrived shortly after Cassius Clay’d knocked out Sonny Liston during their second World Heavyweight Championship fight. With Clay (latterly Muhammed Ali) winning by first round KO, Ian didn’t […]
In the absence of a COVID-19 vaccine, to fill in a few vacant hours yesterday I pondered what might be a fit for purpose alternative ‘medicine’ to help protect me from the ubiquitous pathogen. Hare-brained I know, but if the gaffer across the pond can indulge in such tomfoolery in […]
Unless scenic walks, queuing outside a supermarket, or standing in an empty shopping mall and cacophonously screaming “Aaaarrrggghhh!!” is your bag, under prevailing lockdown edicts entertainment rations outside of the home are indeed meagre. Even the chair of the Entertainment Rations Are Meagre Society (ERAMS), Clive Tyretread, who’s seen some […]
As I start this episode of GJ Strachan’s prevailing existence, an angry West Yorkshire breeze is doing it’s damnedest to blow the eight digitalis, which until yesterday stood vertically with sentry-like authority, into the next village. The gusts rendering flaccid the Plantaginaceae, which pre-zephyr proudly patrolled my borders with an upright gait. Sadly, now […]
